Getting Property Right: The European Dimension of Property as a Fundamental Right and its Impact on French and Italian Law

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Getting Property Right: The European Dimension of Property as a Fundamental Right and its Impact on French and Italian Law

Author:

Praduroux, Sabrina

Contributor:

University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law

Thesis level:

Doctoral dissertation (monograph)

Abstract:

Over the past sixty years, the Council of Europe and the European Union have taken steps to promote respect for fundamental rights in Europe. In particular, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights, gave effect to certain of the rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and established an international judicial organ with jurisdiction to find against States that do not fulfil their undertakings. Moreover, the European Union laid down human rights principles in the Treaty on European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which became legally binding with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1st December 2009. This means that the Charter applies to the European institutions, and also to EU countries when they implement EU law. Against this framework, my thesis investigates the constitutional dimension of private property, which currently appear to be particularly fragmented and complex due to the ever increasing influence of European law over national laws. In pursuing my research, I choose to employ the methodology of comparative law, which is the most appropriate in treating the different conceptual models of the right of property existing within the various European legal orders. The scope of my study is limited, however, in that it focuses on national law considerations in the French and Italian legal systems. The reasons for selecting these two specific countries arise from connections I draw between the different constitutional and political traditions of the two nations. Considering the continuous interplay between European law and domestic laws, the chief aim of my research is to investigate, first, the impact of European human rights law on Italian and French constitutional traditions in the field of property rights protection, and, second, the contribution of the latter in the establishment of European principles on property as a fundamental right. Interweaving philosophical, economic, and legal strands, my work contributes to a critical understanding of property law dynamics and sheds light on the way that property is currently understood in Europe, especially in Italy and France. Among the arguments arising from my research, the thesis particularly reveals the major role played by the European Court of Human Rights in developing substantive rule of law principles, which also apply to property law and have an appreciable impact on Italian and French law.Not available